Help machining Alumina !!!!

tay2daizzo8 · Apr 28, 2016

hey guys i got this job coming down the pike thats made of 99.5% alumina.
6 1/8 outside dia
.100 thick
about 60 .052 holes thru

flat and parrallel .0002/.0003 both sides

Ive read alot about diamond machining this stuff but how about cutting that dia and thickness in a lathe?
Im pretty sure i can do the holes fairly easily but the lathe part has got me thinking.

Should i start banging my head against wall now?

Thanks

Taylor

Milland · Apr 28, 2016

You're not going to have much luck cutting with "edge" type diamond tooling, not unless you've got a pretty good laser setup to heat soften the material before cutting (http://www.ipt.fraunhofer.de/conten...roschures/130_04_Laser-assisted machining.pdf) If grinding try to keep flushed with water-based coolant, to cool and keep the wheel clean. You can get 1mm grinding pins for the holes, follow with to-size pins. Be patient, feed slow and clear the holes frequently. If breakout damage is an issue save facing that side for after all the holes are done.

If you've not had any experience machining fired ceramics be prepared for some fun.

tay2daizzo8 · Apr 28, 2016

How about the flatness...im guessing anything but diamond lap wont touch it. Part was originally quoted in something like mic6 but I noticed the not so subtle change today after getting the print back. BTW Milland how did you like that widia copy mill?

Milland · Apr 28, 2016

If you've got a *really good* lathe headstock with a dead-on perpendicular cross feed, you can give it a go with a stable grinder adapter, but yeah, lapping is the best way. Any chance you can do this from Macor? If they went from Mic6 to ceramic it's likely they've got some flexibility.

Got the copy mill, it's doing a fine job of holding down my storage box. Seriously, it looks good and will doubtless do it's thing when I have the job for it. Thanks for the quick shipping and good packing (now it sounds like I'm doing ebay feedback!).

tay2daizzo8 · Apr 28, 2016

no problem...we emailed the customer, hopefully they reconsider material...Its a high heat application so im thinking mic6 was a typo..many of their prints are copy and paste jobs from like parts, too many times there is a dimension listed with a question mark next to it. smh

Milland · Apr 28, 2016

Try to get them to go with Macor - high heat tolerant (800-1000C), fairly easy to machine, and only somewhat more fragile than fired alumina. I use as much carbide as I can, but careful use of HSS will work too. Sharp tools, cut into the work to avoid chipping, have a good HEPA vac on hand for dust removal.

I try to avoid getting oil or coolant on it, it's not really porous but I still think it's a good idea if it'll be used at high temps. Corning says it's OK though, but clean carefully in that case.

http://psec.uchicago.edu/ceramics/MACOR Data Sheet.pdf

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Help machining Alumina !!!!

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Milland

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